Caraphernelia
by musicmidnight
Summary: So, what if I can't forget you?


_Sunshine, there ain't a thing that you can do that's gonna ruin my night. _

Or is there?

Nico sat alone on his bed. It felt extremely odd, his bed being occupied by only him. He was so used to having the presence of Thalia next to him, taking up the bed space with him. Of course, they never went farther than kissing or the occasional snuggleーespecially since they had too much respect for each other to go too far, not to mention they were only sixteenーbut without her talking or giggling next to him, his bed felt...well, different. In a haunting way.

Now, being a son of Hades, nothing ever haunted him. But the atmosphere in his cabin felt so weird and awkward without her there. He was so used to being the one haunting others, more specifically those of the Aphrodite and Demeter cabins. He always used to conjur the most interesting yet terrifying skeletons up from the ground, to his and Thalia's amusement, to mess around with the Aphrodite campers. After wards, they would steer clear of the two and leave them be...now thinking of the coos and aww's that used to come from the Aphrodite camper's lips, the sudden role-switch bothered him.

_But there's just something about this dizzy dreamer and her bleeding little blue boy. _

Thalia felt much different about the situation. Where she had Annabeth and Percy to lean on and bond with, also adding Juniper and Grover to the mix, they made her feel better. Whereas Nico had no one.

_Well, it's his own damn fault,_she thought. He's the one who's shutting himself away in his cabin. He's the one who's pushing away any hint of advice or help Percy or Annabeth tries to offer him. He's doing this to himself. But why does Thalia feel bad for him?

_Because,_ said a voice in her head, _you still have feelings for him. _

"Well, I know that." She told it. "But I shouldn't."

_But you do. _

And there she sat, having a mental battle with herself resting helplessly by her pine. She didn't even notice that her gaze was fixed on the boys' sparring match.

_Licking your fingers like you're done, and you've decided there is so much more than me._

Nico stared at Thalia against her pine tree from a distance. He hated not being with her, he hated how whenever he saw her alone by that tree, it made him think of all the times they'd sneak away and snog by it. He hated how she kept her stare on Connor and Travis Stoll's sparring match.

"Hey, Nico. I hate to bother you, but we have a council meeting to attend to."

Nico looked over Percy's shoulder, and saw that Annabeth was also getting Thalia up. Without hesitation, we got up and dusted off his pants and started walking towards the Big House.

When he got there, he saw that they were a little late, and that the only seat available was next to Thalia.

He reluctantly took that seat, already feeling the tension growing in the air. He found it hard to breathe and concentrate.

_And baby, honestly, it's harder breathing next to you, I shake._

"Ahh, and the awkwardness begins yet again between Tabitha and Nicholas. How exciting," Mr. D says, obviously pleased at their looks of dismay.

Thalia knew it in her heart that she still loved Nico. In fact, she did the whole one-seat-left-and-that's-next-to-me-so-now-we-have-to-sit-together stunt on purpose. Thank the gods it worked out, she thought. It felt so good to sit next to him again. She missed his manly smell and how automatically fast her heart got around him.

When Mr. D got their names wrong on purpose, she almost rose to Nico's defense. "It's Nico, smart ass." She almost said.

But she knew that on a god's behalf, she would be sentenced to Kitchen Patrol in no time. Well, the voice in her head told her it's not worth it anyway.

_I brought a gun, and as the preacher tried to stop me, hold my heart, it's beating for you anyway._

As soon as the meeting came to and end Nico winded up walking back to his cabin. He tossed open the door, when he tripped over one of Thalia's shirts. He picked it up and almost shuttered at the words on it:

_What if I can't forget you? I'll burn your name into my throat, I'll be the fire that'll catch you._

He recognized the song immediately; Caraphernelia.

_Caraphernelia (n.)  
A broken heart disease when a loved one leaves you, but leaves all their things behind.  
Example: "My ex-girlfriend left me with Caraphernelia."_

So Thalia had, in fact, left Nico with Caraphernelia. Both metaphorically and literally.

Nico took one look around his room and noticed she'd left more than just her favorite shirt: A pair of black flip flops, another shirt (this time with a skull on it, one Nico had given her a long time ago), and the picture Annabeth took of their first kiss, which she had always carried around in her back pocket. Nico frowned and looked at the picture. His arms were wrapped firmly around her waste, and her hands lay delicately on his chest, fingers slightly curled against his shirt. That was the position they were in a lot, because most of the time Nico kissed her, it was a surprise, and she was to busy being shocked to wrap her arms around his neck like she usually would.

Thalia sat on her bed with her back against the wall and her knees pulled up to her chest. She Was staring intently on a picture she hung up on the wall, the day Nico surprised her on her _real_sixteenth birthday with a huge cake. Her cheeks her tomato red, much to Nico's amusement, and he was standing there admiring his girlfriend's face as she blushed madly out of shock and embarrassment. She remembers the last words Artemis said to her before she pledged out of the Hunters.

"Thalia, I want you to know...you were the best lieutenant I've ever had. I'll miss you, my sister. So just know...if he ever hurts you, you're always welcome back, okay?"

Thalia gasped in spite of her words. Artemis never gave second go's, never. For Artemis to give you a second chance you'd have to really make an impression.

Thalia sat and considered going back, for a moment. She could do it. She could easily IM Artemis saying she wanted to be back in the Hunt, and they would be on their way to camp within the next hour.

No, she thought. I'm happy as a camper.

_What's so good about picking up the pieces?_

Nico sat up on his bed, his elbow propped up on his knee. Without Thalia, the room looked so dark and dull. Of course it was designed like that, but even with Thalia in the room it seemed to light up, and the very little color Nico had around his room seemed to glow more vibrantly.

_None of the colors ever light up anymore in this hole._

The next day at breakfast, Thalia didn't show up. That's when Nico noticed the small line of girls - Annabeth, Piper, and Rachel - crowded around the Zeus cabin. Hah, Nico thought. No one ever wants to cheer me up. Why is it always her?

_Nobody prays for the heartless, nobody gives another penny for the selfish._

Well, it's true, he thought. Just when Percy sat his rump down at the Hades table, right next to Nico. "Hey, man. What's up?" he asked casually, as if it were a normal thing that he would sit there.

"Percy, Mr. D might turn you into a grape vine if you don't get back to your own table."

"Relax. I talked it over with Chiron. Everything's cool. So, any luck with Thalia?"

Suddenly, the subject seemed uncomfortable to talk about for Nico. "No."

"Don't worry. She'll come around."

Nico's suddenly reminded of the shirt that lays on the floor of his cabin.

_Don't mind me, I'm just reaching for your necklace, talking to my mom about this little girl from Texas._

Except, Thalia doesn't have a necklace, she has a bracelet. And Nico doesn't have a mom. And Thalia's not from Texas. Nico didn't even figure out why he thought of that song.

Losing his appetite, Nico stood up and locked himself in his cabin.

_Just give her back to me, you know I can't afford the medicine that feeds what I need. So baby, what if I can't forget you? You can't just throw me away._

_"What if I can't forget you? I'll burn your name into my throat, I'll be the fire that'll catch you. What's so good about picking up the pieces? What if I don't even want to?" _Thalia softly sang to herself.

"But you do want to." Said a voice behind her.

Thalia turned around and gasped. "Lady Aphrodite." she got down and kneeled.

"Yes, Thalia. And I came to assist you with your problems."

Then and there, Thalia broke down crying. "My Lady...what do I do? I'm completely stuck, and I'm so confused!" she said sadly through her own tears.

The Love goddess quieted her down and spoke to her busily, letting Thalia vent and express her thoughts.

Nico was about to fall asleep when he heard a loud _"poof" _in his cabin. He looked up and saw the love goddess herself smiling meekly at him. On instinct, he kneeled on one knee and addressed the Olympian properly. "Lady Aphrodite."

"Aw, how cute! You even addressed me the same way!" She cooed, not minding the confused look that dawned on Nico's face.

"Wait, what?" He asked while standing up.

"Never mind. Now, cousin, I've been watching you two for a while now...and it seems...that there's a lot we need to do, now, isn't there?"

***Thalia's Point Of View***

I sat there and droned on to Aphrodite about Nico and I's past. Like a good love goddess, she listened and respected my opinions.

"Well, sister, I wish you the best of luck on what is to come."

"That's..it? You're not going to meddle with it or...or do something to make something happen?" I asked.

"Oh, don't be silly. Of course I am. You just need to make the right decisions when something _does_happen." She says happily, and disappears in her heavily perfumed cloud of pink smoke.

I hate when people do that. "Oh, yeah, I'm gonna make stuff happen, but you're gonna have to decide whether or not it works." Ugh.

I walk over to my dresser and place my hand under it, feeling the bottom of it and landing my hand on a Manila envelope I've taped to the bottom so long ago. I carefully undo the small pieces of tape and slip the envelope from under the small space. Opening it, I can't help but notice the delicate handwriting on the topーthe work of Nico himself.

_"To my dear Thalia, my love and life." _he wrote on the flap in perfect, thin black cursive letters. Seeing his handwriting alone made the tears prick at my eyes. I've always had a thing for his calligraphy.

I grabbed the pictures in the envelope and shuffled through them. They were all of Nico and I, sometimes with our other friends, but we were always together. One was of us being splashed with water by Percy. We were holding onto each other for dear life, both with wide malicious grins on our faces. Another one was when I got into a fight with an Aphrodite camper, and Nico was holding me by my waist as I viciously tried to launch at her. But the one that caught my eye was when I was still with the Hunters. I was unaware of the feelings Nico had towards me, and I was obviously trying to hide mine towards him. We were sitting at the camp fire, and I had chosen to sit with Percy, Annabeth and Nico rather than the other Huntresses. I was simply laughing at something Connor Stoll had said, and Nico was sitting beside me, just admiring the look I had on my face. (Or at least, that's how he described it when he gave it to me.) I studied how he looked in that picture. He was just staring with a grin on his face. Well, that's what I thought the first time I'd seen the picture. If you look closely at his eyes, you could see they had a much warmer tint to them. ("Love, Thalia. That's when I decided I was in love with you.")

I didn't realize I was crying until I saw the dark spots on the envelope, tinted with black because my eyeliner was smudging off. I ran to the bathroom to fix it. Before I could do anything about it, I noticed a thumpingーnot a banging, more like someone had turned on music and was playing it really loudly.

Well, in fact, someone had.

Listening more closely, I figured out that someone had turned on one of my favorite songs and had the volume all the way up. I heard the first lyric and I almost lost it. Because only one person had the same taste in music as I did, and only one person knew that song. _Sunshine, there ain't a thing that you can do that's gonna ruin my night..._

I bolted out the door, not minding that my combats were unlaced or that my make up was all over my face, and started for cabin thirteen. I threw the door open.

Yeah, I was right.

Nico di Angelo slumped against his cabin wall, wearing his usual all black with his skull ring. Next to him, an iPod was plugged into a doc, the source of the music. Nico looked up at me. "Thalia."

I hesitated before speaking. "Nico."

He fumbled with his ring, twisting it around his finger. "What's up." He mumbled.

"Nothing." I shoved my hands in the pocket of my jacket.

"Nice jacket," he comments.

I look down. _Shit, _I'm wearing the jacket he gave me after I kept stealing it from him. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit._

"Um, thanks," I say uncomfortably.

_What if I can't forget you? I'll burn your name into my throat, I'll be the fire that'll catch you._

Nico stands up and walks over, not even minding that I have black smeared all over my face. "Care to dance?" He bows.

I let the corner of my mouth turn up, slightly. He always did that when one of our favorite songs came on. "Not really dancing music." I said. But I took my hands out of my pockets anyway.

So we danced. And danced, and danced, and danced. Danced through all the songs we listened to when we were together, no matter the hardness, we'd simply sway in the middle of the floor of his cabin in the eerie but comfortable silence. We swayed until the playlist ended, and there was no music to dance to. We swayed.

Eventually, though, the silence became unnerving and...haunting. "I have to go." I said. I broke out from his embrace and began walking to the door.

"Thalia," He croaked.

I slowly turned around and looked at him. "Yes?"

He retrieved a small picture from his pocket and held it out. "Forgot something."

I strode over and took the small picture in his hands. It was the picture I'd always keep in my back pocket. Our kiss. I looked up at him, tears on the brim of my eyes, only to see he was on the verge of crying, too. Without thinking, I ran into his arms and wrapped mine around his torso, letting my head fit in to the crook of his neck as he nuzzled into my hair. And I cried.

I let out a sob, and as soon as it escaped he pulled away and wiped the the tears with his thumb. "Don't cry, Thalia. You'll kill me."

He bent down to kiss me, his lips molding into mine. As though the cabin got warmer, a feeling of warmth traveled down from my lips to my stomach, settling and making me go crazy. As soon as air became necessary, we pulled away.

I breathed heavily. "That was like-"

"-Our first kiss," He finished, and leaned down to kiss me again.

*A/N: Any Pierce The Veil fans out there?


End file.
